Synology DiskStation 4-Bay Diskless Network Attached Storage (DS414)

I was comparing this to the DS412+ (which is the business class model) and the DS413 (older version of the current DS414). This was not much less expensive than the DS412+, but I opted for this because this model has hardware encryption built in (the DS412+ did not appear too), and I didn't need the high power of the DS412+. I was also considering the WD Cloud EX4, but ultimately decided to spend the extra because the DS414 spec indicates it should be a faster box.One thing I didn't realize is that the entire case is made of plastic, everything from the housing to the trays. However, it is solid and quality plastic, so not really missing anything. The tool-less drive trays were easy to use, and it took me about 10 minutes to set everything up.I have this running off my Airport Extreme router, through a Linksys switch (10/100 MBps, not a gigabit switch, I plan on upgrading), and it was recognized instantly on my LAN. The setup wizard seems very good, but I am still learning all the ins and outs of setting up a NAS, so even though the software seems really good, be prepared to do some learning if you are like me and new to this. That said, it does seem to be a no hassle set up for the most part (I am using a Mac on Mountain Lion) in the software.I will update this review with any observations about performance, I haven't put a lot of data on this yet and I want to see if there is any lag when trying to access files.Update 12/23/13: In Action - transferring photos to NAS was only at about 1.0 to 1.2 MBps (some peaks at 1.6 MBps) - 1.7 GB was estimated to take about 25 minutes. I am using a 2008 MacPro with an Airport Extreme and Linksys switch. Also, this computer is hooked to the local network using a Linksys AC power line converter connection. This somewhat disappointing rate might be due to the AC power line connection and maybe the WD Red drives which are only 5400 rpm.Accessing photos - immediately after finishing the upload to the NAS, I went into Finder and it took a LONG time for the thumbnails to generate in Finder (still waiting....) - this might be the MacOSX indexing the files, not sure. But during this time, it would take close to ten seconds or longer for a file to open, so there was a significant delay. I am hoping this delay goes away once the indexing is done, so I'm not going to attribute this lag in performance to the NAS, there are other weak links in the system likely.Update 12/24/13: Still having massive 10+ second lag when accessing photos - I do believe this has more to do with the Mac OSX than anything else, I've experienced this before when I "upgraded" to Mountain Lion a few months back. Some of the photos do open more quickly with a minor 1-2 second lag, so I think this is the Mac OS still working on the indexing of the photos for spotlight search. I might disable spot light for these external drives.However, when I try to access these photos from the web browser DSM software, it is a little faster, but I am still having a 2-3 second lag for photos to generate. These photos are only 2 MB size, so not sure why everything is so slow, maybe this is the trade off with NAS and the RED drives? I probably have a few weak links in my set up, I am going to upgrade to a gigabit switch to see if that is the culprit.Final Update 12/24/13: It seems my Mac has finally finished indexing all the files and generating thumbnails - now all photos open within a second, much happier now. I found that I had to keep the Finder window open showing the files for the indexing to finish (didn't seem to be doing it in the background overnight), so I learned in the future to allow the files to finish indexing before trying to access them and everything should be good. There is still a slightly longer lag when trying to access the photos from the browser based DSM software (2-3 seconds per photo), so not sure why that is. But overall it seems snappy now when accessing through Finder.

This is my first rodeo with Synology. I bought this instead of a lower cost NetGear NAS that I have more experience with. I did so based on other recommendations from my colleagues. This device installed and configured easily. Looks good and is performing quite well thus far. Synology has better CPU and memory specs than the NetGear NAS in the same product category. Plus, it has twin Gigabit network interfaces so it can move data in and out very quickly. I backup multiple computers and they run very fast on our Gigabit network.I like that Synology frequently updates the firmware with bug fixes and feature tweaks. The UI is easy to launch and is intuitive enough to figure out how to configure the device without much help. The NetGear device UI is fairly straightforward by comparison but NetGear barely releases firmware updates over the lifetime of their devices.Would recommend to anyone needing fast and massive local network storage.

We had to replace our home network after the end of support for Windows XP. I liked XP, but then I liked Windows 2000 even better.I replaced our two workstation computers with refurbished Dell Optiplex 780 Mini Towers with Windows 7 and MS Office Standard installed. I replaced our old 2003-2004 vintage PC file server with the Synology DS412+ with 4-3T WD Red HDs, one as a hot spare. This uses the first three as a Synology RAID, giving us 6T to play with. I liked the Synology DS412+NAS so much that I bought this one as a backup. It is a bit slower and is about 100 bucks cheaper. It is plenty capable of backing up our main NAS.I put our main NAS in my office, and this black toaster resides in my wife's office at the end of a 50 foot Cat 5e cable. She is two rooms away, at the opposite end of the house, but still, in-house (I'll resist the out house potential joke here).A backup app on the main Synology backs up our data to this new Synology automatically by schedule. I use the same backup program to backup our files to Amazon S3 after a disappointing try with Amazon Glacier (Synology has an app for that as well).So, we end up with three copies of our data, main NAS, backup NAS, and S3. Two on-site; one off-site. I don't follow all of the 3-2-1 rule insofar as the 2 refers to different media. This is usually interpreted as using something other than a hard disk as the second. I cannot ever see me burning CD-ROMs every week. I think I would finish one set only to have to start anew.The two Synology servers work well together and are specially designed to work this way. You can also make a High Availability cluster using the two where the failure of the main will automatically switch to the secondary. We have a RAID setup where one of the three disks can fail and the fourth one, a hot spare, will kick in. I think we're good.I was happy to find out that Synology let's you have a recycler on it drives optionally. There was no recycle bin on our network mapped drives. I don't know if Windows 7 allows this because we have only used the Synologys on the Win 7 systemI was surprised to find out that what used to be 0.6T on our old server was now over 2T. I got a nifty free program call WinDirStat that analyzes every folders size and shows you where the bloat is. It's mainly in our Media share (videos) and, gasp, the recycler. We had more in the recycler than in our documents folder, and our documents folder has a bunch of videos that need to be moved so it is bloated.I checked out the recycler and it was mainly filled with temp files and other stuff I don't need to keep, and to pay 3 cents/GB/month to store. I didn't find any options on filtering what goes into the recycler, so I emptied and unchecked them. Here's hoping Synology adds filtering to the recycler.What we have instead is a backup copy of our data. I we accidentally delete a file, or write over one, on our main server, we can replaced it with the backed up file on this NAS. That is, if the file has been copied. The setup we have now is a straight copy, reserving files on the backup if deleted on the main. There is a hole where we can lose a file potentially if it has not yet be copied. This copying hole exists for both the backup NAS and S3. In the years we have used this system, we have only needed to find a few backups and they have been there. So, I view it as an acceptable risk.In summary, we keep all documents and data on the Synology NAS, we automatically copy user data from our Windows C drive to the main NAS at workstation shutdown, we automatically copy our data on the main NAS to the backup NAS daily, and we backup the same data to Amazon S3 automatically by schedule.I have learned the hard way to rely on the computer to make scheduled backups and to not rely on me to do anything. Things happen and I can forget, or not get into the habit.Synology also offers a data replicator program a timed backup program. I tried the timed backup and it was producing folder upon folder based on the backup frequency. I thought it to be too much but it did offer quicker scheduling. There was something that I didn't like about the Data Replicator but it eludes me right now.We use this as a secondary NAS but I believe it would be just fine as the main NAS.We also bought two more Western Digital 3T Red HDs. Red means it is for continuous server use. Very rugged. I have four in the main NAS and two here for economy. The two on this Synology are RAID 0, or stripped, to appear as one 6T drive. This matches the 6T on our main NAS; our main NAS having data redundancy and a hot spare.These WD have all worked well out of the box. With catching up with the new backup plan, they are getting good workouts.UPDATE:I take back liking the Synology backup & Replication app. It was very slow. It also creates a directory for the share and a few housekeeping files. I could live with that if it were reasonably speedy.I could only specify one directory. Folder1/Folder2 was a no go because the app would not take an "/" in the directory field. I ended up with a lot of tasks and one, there's always at least one big one, tied up everything else until it quit. I finally had to learn to use "top" to find a precess ID and kill it. I also had to discover that I could stop scheduled backups by unchecking them on the task scheduler, separate from the backup app.I am trying out Cloudberry backup and their S3 Pro app. I'll probably try the free S3 app and pay for the backup app. They are both fast and fairly detailed. The backups are incremental so yo need to use the S3 app to make an initial copy.

Cela fait 18 mois que je possède le boîtier NAS Synology DS414, que j'ai rempli de 4 disques durs internes Western Digital NASware 3.0 4To 3.5" SATA. Ce sont des disques durs spécialement conçus pour les NAS, que j'ai également acheté sur Amazon. J'ai choisi ce modèle car j'ai une bonne expérience avec WD et qu'il faisait partie des modèles 100% compatibles sur le site de Synology. J'ai choisi 4 fois 4 To pour avoir 10 To en RAID, car je voulais la plus grande capacité possible avec une redondance pour sécurité. J'utilise le RAID spécial de Synology dont je ne connais pas les détails techniques, mais qui apparemment donne les meilleurs performances (d'après eux, et je ne m'en plains pas).J'ai choisi ce modèle de NAS à cause de la réputation impeccable de Synology, et parce qu'il était celui qui me correspondait le mieux dans leur gamme de NAS à 4 baies. De plus son design me plaisait. Son seul bémol était le manque de Wi-Fi (en mode point d'accès en natif), comme tous leurs modèles adéquats.L'installation des disques durs est enfantine et peut se faire à chaud.Lors des premiers mois le NAS était directement connecté à mon PC de bureau en gigabit ethernet, et depuis quelques mois il est connecté en gigabit ethernet à la box fibre familiale et est donc accessible via le Wi-Fi. Dans les deux cas il fonctionne parfaitement.Le NAS tourne en permanence, 24/24h, depuis 18 mois, et je ne l'ai rebooté/arrêté que quelque fois et il tourne comme au premier jour. Je l'entretiens bien, notamment en enlevant régulièrement la poussière qui s'accumule rapidement dans les aérations et à l'intérieur.J'ai créé des partages pour chacun des membres de la famille ainsi que d'autres pour les photos, les films ou les séries. Ainsi, chacun peut avoir accès aux contenus qu'il veut à partir de son PC, tablette ou smartphone. Certains partages sont protégés par mot de passe pour que les plus petits ne puissent pas y accéder.Le logiciel d'administration embarqué, accessible via un navigateur, est très ergonomique et permet de réaliser rapidement toutes les tâches d'administration nécessaires. Il est également possible d'installer une myriade de logiciels spécifiquement conçus pour les box Synology, mais mon NAS n'étant volontairement pas connecté à internet, je n'ai pas pu en profiter.Synology a sorti deux mises à jour de ce modèle depuis sa sortie, qui sont évidemment plus chères. Ce DS414 reste donc une excellente alternative plus économique mais certainement pas obsolète. Il est extrèmement facile à prendre en main pour les débutants du NAS et offre toutes les fonctionnalités que les utilisateurs avancés demandent.

Para los que no lo sepan, este aparato permite alojar hasta 4 discos SATA, y configurarlos para dar una fiabilidad muy alta.Internamente lleva un Sistema Operativo basado en Linux. Te puedes conectar al aparato a través de un navegador de internet. En mi caso uso Chrome.No asustarse, no hay que saber nada de Linux. Cuando te conectas te aparece una aplicación con un interfaz gráfico muy amigable y fácil de utilizar.Los puntos positivos:- Muy rápido. Es muy recomendable usar una red gigabit para explotar al máximo las posibilidades.- Permite configurarlo como RAID-SHR, lo que permite no perder ningún dato incluso si uno de los discos se estropea completamente. Y permite que uses de dos a cuatro discos, incluso de tamaños diferentes.- Puedes comprar menos discos y, según lo necesites, metes nuevos discos y los asignas al volumen SHR. De esta forma puedes ir aumentando la capacidad de almacenamiento según lo necesites.- Cuando lleva un rato sin usarse, se pone en hibernación y consume poca energía.El re-arranque es razonablemente rápido.- Además de almacenar de forma muy fiable fotos y otros archivos, tiene otras posibilidades. También he usado su nube, lo que te permite tener una nube de tipo Dropbox, alojado en este aparato y accesible incluso desde internet. Además te permite tener un versionado de los archivos, pudiendo recuperar versiones antiguas de los ficheros, lo que no te permite el dropbox gratuito. Y con posibilidad de hacer una nube de tamaño muy grande, limitada sólo por el tamaño de los discos que tengas instalados.- También te permite usar PhotoStation, lo que te permite crear álbumes web alojados en este aparato y accesibles tanto desde la WI-FI como desde internet. Y la aplicación web para acceder a ella es muy buena. No tiene nada que envidiar a otras web de fotos de pago. Y tiene la ventaja de que tú controlas cómo compartes el álbum, sin obligar a tus amigos o familiares que se inscriban en ninguna red social.- Tiene otras posibilidades, como la de hacer de servidor de cámaras de vigilancia, o instalar un organizador y servidor de videos, o Servidor de iTunes, o poder acceder a tu red casera desde internet a través de una VPN, publicar blogs, y un largo etc.Puntos negativosSería interesante que fuera más barato.Consejos:- Antes de encenderlo has de ponerle los discos, que has de comprar aparte. En mi caso he comprado 3 discos WD RED de 3 TB, lo que permite tener 5.4TB reales si se configura como RAID-SHR. Los discos de 5" se instalan sin tornillos. Basta con introducir cada uno de los discos en una de las 4 cajas de plástico que lleva en su interior, y ponerle las guías laterales. Estas guías llevan unos 'pinchos' que se introducen en los agujeros laterales del disco y lo sujetan con bastante firmeza.- Una vez metidos los discos y cerrada la caja, has de ponerle el cable de red y el de alimentación.- Al encenderlo, el NAS arranca su sistema operativo y, a partir de ese momento, te puedes conectar a su dirección con un navegador de internet. Para localizar su dirección puedes usar el método que te sugiere Synology (teclear find[...]). Te localiza el aparato y te da la opción de conectarte a él.- Al conectarte, te sugiere que instales la última versión del software. Si aceptas, se conecta el sólo a internet, y se descarga e instala la última versión del software DSM. También te propone instalar algunos de los paquetes: AudioStation, Cloud Station (la nube), Download Station, Servidor Multimedia, Video Station (organizador de videos) y Photo Station (servidor de álbumes de fotos)- Luego te propone configurar un volumen de almacenamiento con los discos que tienes instalados. Las opciones por defecto son razonables y las acepté (lo configuré como un único volumen con protección SHR). En general la utilización de este software es relativamente intuitivo.- Para gestionar la seguridad hay que definir usuarios normales. Yo he definido un usuario para cada miembro de la familia, y un grupo de usuarios llamado 'familia' que contiene a todos los usuarios de la familia. De esta forma, cuando creas carpetas compartidas puedes asignar permisos de forma individual a cada carpeta. También, usando el usuario admin puedes configurar qué aplicaciones quieres que pueda utilizar cada uno de los usuarios o grupos de usuarios.- En mi caso lo configurado de esta forma:a) He definido un directorio compartido de datos para cada uno de los usuarios, al que accede en forma de RW cada uno de los usuarios de casa (cada uno al suyo)b) He definido un directorio compartido para dejar las copias de seguridad de tipo imagen de cada ordenador, así como los directorios para el 'Historial de Archivos' de Windows 8.1, y los setups y las claves de instalación.c) En el caso de mi hija, le he puesto una nube para que pueda acceder a la última versión de sus ficheros con apuntes desde varios ordenadores. Cuando se guarda un archivo, este se almacena en el Synology y este distribuye la nueva versión del archivo al resto de las máquinas. He configurado la nube con versionado, lo que permite recuperar una versión antigua del mismo fichero para los posibles casos en que se equivoque al borrarlo o editarlo. He configurado el versionado para que mantenga versiones antiguas durante 6 meses.d) He creado unos álbumes web de fotografías. Ya he abandonado el Picasa para siempre. (Bye, Google, bye)e) He instalado la aplicación DS-Notes para poder hacer notas de compra en el móvil compartidas con mi mujer.f) En lugar de instalar el software de backup en cada PC, he optado por usar el 'Historial de Archivos' de Windows 8.1 y configurarlo en Windows para que almacene el historial de los archivos en la carpeta compartida del Synology DS414.g) Ojo, para administrar las carpetas compartidas hay que usar el módulo 'Carpeta Compartida' del 'Panel de Control' de Synology. El módulo 'Servicio de Archivos' te permite verlas pero no permite borrarlas o renombrarlas.El servicio de Amazon, por otro lado, ha sido muy rápido y me ha llegado muy bien envuelto y sin problemas.RESUMENEn fín, yo buscaba un buen NAS para guardar con seguridad mis fotos y mis archivos, y al final le estoy sacando más jugo del que esperaba con la nube y las aplicaciones extras. Si el precio os encaja es un aparato bastante recomendable. SI el precio os resulta algo alto, os recomiendo que le echéis un vistazo al Synology DS215+. Sólo tiene espacio para dos discos, pero he visto buenas críticas de él

I've been using this for a month now and am extremely impressed.Previously I owned a Qnap for many years, which was ok, but got frustrated with various issues, such as reliability (where the Qnap would just lock up) and the failure of Apple Time Machine losing my backups. Qnap are still on Linux 2.6 (which is ancient) and there are a huge number of kernel bugs appearing in the log files (which explains the reliability issues). Qnap technical support was fairly bad, just saying "network problem" and I should replace my hardware. Hardware or software (as a consumer I don't care which), the Qnap was no good for me. (Synology uses a 3.2 Linux kernel which is much more up to date and has fixed lots more bugs.)So I decided to make the switch to Synology and I am very glad that I did. The user interface is quite similar to Qnap, and it's great to see that the two companies are pushing each other to improve the user experience, and releasing updates. Personally I prefer the Synology interface. It's difficult to compare the two NASes because the products are being updated continually.Installation was fairly straightforward. Installing the disks was quite easy and screwdriverless, once you figure out which bits to press. There is no physical security on this model. Physically, it looks very smart and solid, and the two fans in the back are large and of good quality. The unit is fairly quiet but you would notice it in a quiet room due to the hard disks.There is a great deal of flexibility in setting up users, volumes and shares, but I would imagine that setup would be very challenging for someone who was not computer literate.There are some goodies here which I was not expecting. You can access your NAS remotely via the Synology website (using uPnP), and Synology even offer dynamic DNS, xyz.synology.me, which you can use for any other servers on your home network as well. Bye bye DynDNS and No-IP :-) [Hint: If you own a domain, you can add a CNAME entry to xyz.synology.me, and from there you can host your own web server and email server on the Synology, avoiding the need for a hosting provider.]Time Machine backups work fine so far. The email server is a little complicated to set up, but works well for me now, [Hint: Use the SMTP relay for outgoing emails] The backup solution isn't really that good. I found the Windows client software a bit lacking, and replication is limited to rsync [Hint: Ensure that the rsync folder is initially empty.] I've not tried the encryption yet, but I think it's much better than the Qnap (which only offers encryption on external USB disks last time I checked).Overall I'm pleased as punch with this. It's a bit more expensive but in return you get a quality product.

NAS di ottima fattura, semplicissimo da installare e configurare.Molto silenzioso, con un software di gestione di prim'ordine.Trovo molto comodo gestirlo a distanza; nessun problema con il DLNA (trasmetto file in fullHD al televisore collegato in rete senza intoppi).Lo consiglio vivamente a chi, come me, ha interesse a proteggere i suoi dati ed avere contemporaneamente un ampio spazio per lo storage (ho cominciato con un disco da 4tb e conto di inserirne un altro a breve).Il servizio non si discute: Amazon è Amazon! Non lesinerò più pochi euro per comprare presso siti molto discutibili su affidabilità e servizio.P.S. Prima di consegnare ho chiesto aiuto al call center.... richiamato dopo 5 secondi da persona cordialissima e "sul pezzo".

Vorab: ich habe bereits mehrere Synology NAS für verschiedene Funktionen in meinem Netzwerk. Für Backups von Kaufdaten wie iTunes habe ich zusätzlich ein großes zuverlässiges Datengrab benötigt.Die Synology NAS sind für die verschiedenen Modelle in ihren Rezensionen bereits ausreichend beschrieben. Sie verwenden alle dieselbe DSM Software und unterscheiden sich im Wesentlichen in der Hardwareausstattung. Lediglich die auf Unternehmen zielenden teureren Modelle bieten weitere Funktionen wie Virtualisierungsunterstützung, die man Privat nicht benötigt.Das DS414 ist in der Modellreihe eher ein preiswertes Modell für Privatanwender, was sich vor allem in der Geschwindigkeit des eingebauten Linux-Rechners zeigt. Es ist dafür ausgelegt, die verschiedenen Funktionen des NAS für eine kleine Zahl von Benutzern ausreichend schnell anzubieten. Eingesetzt habe ich das NAS mit vier identischen 3TB Platten der Western Digital Red Serie und ich habe das per Default angebotene Hybrid Raid genommen, was Datensicherheit bei Ausfall einer Platte garantiert und bei vier Platten die Kapazität von drei Platten, d.h. 9TB bei mir, bietet. Das sollte für längere Zeit reichen.Lieferung:Das NAS kommt gut verpackt zusammen mit einem externen Netzteil, zwei CAT5e Patchkabeln sowie etwas Papierkrams und CD.Aufbau:Der Einbau der Platten ist absolut narrensicher und dauert nur wenige Minuten. Man entnimmt die eingeklipsten Plattenrahmen, zieht zwei seitliche Befestigungsteile ab, legt die Platte ein und steckt die Befestigungsteile wieder an. Bei 3.5''Platten werden keine Schrauben benötigt. Dann die Rahmen wieder einstecken, Frontplatte drauf und fertig.Dass das Gehäuse aus Plastik ist, stört mich nicht. Ich habe nicht vor damit Fussball zu spielen und es wird auch wenig bewegt.Negativ:Das externe Netzteil verwendet einen kleinen mehrpoligen Stecker an einem doch recht starren Kabel. Ich traue dem Stecker und seiner Buchse nicht zu, dauerhaft bei Zug durch das starre Kabel durchzuhalten.Einrichtung:Am besten lädt man sich von der CD oder Online den Synology Assistant. Nachdem das NAS gebootet ist (dauert ca. 1-2 Minuten und kündigt sich mit einem Pieps an), findet der Synology Assistant das NAS, zeigt an, dass kein Betriebssystem eingerichtet ist und führt dann gemäß Schnellstart-Anleitung weiter. Das Herunterladen und Installieren des aktuellen DSM und Einrichten des RAIDS kann durchaus 10 Minuten oder länger dauern.Danach beginnt eine ewig lange dauernde Prüfung des RAIDS. Bei mir hat diese rund 35 Stunden (!!!) gedauert, aber man kann parallel bereits mit dem NAS arbeiten. Erst nach abgeschlossener Prüfung des RAIDS würde ich aber wertvolle Daten auf das NAS verschieben. Es kann immer ein Defekt der neuen Hardware gefunden werden; vor allem wenn man sieht wie häuffig Platten von Amazon verschickt werden.Geschwindigkeit:Da ich das 414 nur als Datenlager für Backups über NFS, Windows und Mac Shares sowie rsync einsetze, bewerte ich hier nur die reine Datentransfer-Geschwindigkeit und die ist exzellent!Als Bewertungsszenario habe ich das NAS über Netgear Gigabit Switches angebunden. Von einem Mac Mini Server habe ich dann als erste Amtshandlung eine rund 1.4TB große iTunes Bibliothek mit cp über NFS gesichert. Bei großen Daten wie HD Filme (also 1-3GB Dateien) erreichte ich effektive Schreibgeschwindigkeiten auf dem NAS von bis zu 100MB pro Sekunde bei 60% CPU Belastung (RAID Prüfung im Hintergrund kostet auch Zeit). Die Geschwindigkeit wurde also bei großen Dateien durch das Netzwerk begrenzt.Bei vielen kleineren Dateien, z.B. Musik, lag die effektive Schreibgeschwindigkeit bei 30-40mB pro Sekunde.+ Einfacher Aufbau+ Exzellente Geschwindigkeit des Datentransfers+ Sehr leise selbst unter Vollast (die Platten machen den meisten Radau)+ Unzählige Funktionen gerade für den privaten Einsatzz+ Sehr flexibel bei der Zahl und Größe der Platten+ Übersichtliche Weboberfläche zur Administration+ Einige nützliche kostenlose Apps zur Steuerung und Überwachung+ Sehr guter Support und Community- Luftiges Gehäuse dämmt Plattenradau nur wenig- Stromanschluss mit fragwürdigem schwachem Stecker; andere Synology NAS verwenden hier robustere Stecker- Hoher Preis